Police on Tuesday cleared obstructions created by the locals from Sisdole and Banchare Danda area to stop garbage trucks from reaching the landfill sites.

A few protesting locals were detained briefly.

“A few of our friends were detained by the police in the morning,” said Chandra Bahadur Balami, a member of the Banchare Danda Waste Management Struggle Committee. “Instead of addressing the demands of the locals, the authorities prefer to take help from security agencies.”

Following an agreement between the Metropolitan City, Ministry of Urban Development, and local representatives from Sisdole and Banchare Danda on Monday evening, dozens of trucks carrying garbage from the Kathmandu Valley had reached the landfill site early morning.

Police said they removed the protesting locals from the landfill site area after the latter tried to vandalise the trucks carrying garbage.

“We only removed the protesting locals from the landfill site,” said Gautam Mishra, Deputy Superintendent of Police at Metropolitan Police Circle Balaju. “We have not arrested anyone.”

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City had said garbage disposal will resume from Tuesday at the Banchare Danda landfill site.

“An agreement was forged between concerned agencies and locals on Tuesday evening,” said Gautam. “We all know that an individual agreement is not possible. They can hold another round of discussions but they should not obstruct waste disposal.”

Based on the agreement, the ministry has allocated Rs 425 million to construct five different roads that lead to Banchare Danda while Rs17 million has been allocated for river embankment building, community building and tree plantation in the area within the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23.

The City has announced its plan to start the process to provide health insurance services to the residents of the affected area within a week. The beneficiaries of the insurance service will be residents of Dhunibeshi Municipality’s wards 1, 3, 4 and Kakani Rural Municipality’s wards 1, 2 and 3. Further, the City has announced plans to continue the grant for other infrastructure development in those wards.

The City has also announced that it will segregate solid waste as biodegradable and non-biodegradable at the source itself starting June 15.

The Ministry of Urban Development has also announced plans to start the land acquisition drive in the affected area.

“We are on the way to Sisdole,” Sarita Rai, chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s environment department told the Post. “Security agencies are removing stones and logs placed on the roads to obstruct the movement of garbage trucks.”

Due to the protests of the locals in the Sisdole area, door-to-door garbage collection has been halted in the Kathmandu Valley for about two months. The locals in some places have demanded better amenities while in other places people have said they don’t want foul-smelling garbage trucks passing through their neighbourhoods.

Waste management has been a perennial problem in Kathmandu Valley, which produces around 1,200 tonnes of garbage every day.